How Practicing Gratitude Can Help You Be Happy

Practicing This Every Day Could Help You Achieve Lasting Happiness

My dad is the type of guy who texts you "Happy Monday!", "Happy Tuesday!", Happy Wednesday!", etc. Though I usually save my morning greetings for Fridays, Sunny Yi is a man of many wise words, many thanks, and a lot of happy. The source of his incredibly positive attitude is surprisingly uncomplicated and oftentimes overlooked: gratitude.

"Be grateful for everything!" he said. "When you have this mindset and are constantly reminding yourself how grateful we are, it's impossible to be angry or upset at the same time."

It makes sense for such a simple practice to have a huge impact. When you're appreciative, you're recognizing what you have as well as the fact that it could be worse. It puts things into perspective and makes it difficult to let the little things get to you. Problems no longer seem like problems. Sunny even goes as far as reciting a gratitude prayer each time he goes to the restroom, which is equally as silly as it is sensible.

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"It's a simple reminder to myself," he said. "Imagine if we couldn't go to the bathroom by ourselves? It's a reminder not to take things for granted."

Though you don't have to follow in his steps exactly, gratitude is always a healthy habit to start forming. By consciously looking at the positive side, you're allowing yourself to focus your energy on things actually worthwhile instead of wasting it on trivial matters that aren't a big deal in the larger scheme of things.

For example, instead of letting a 25-minute-late Lyft ride ruin part of my night, I could've instead relished in the fact that I can afford to Lyft to places and that I have amazing friends waiting for me at my destination. When you shift gears to a more appreciative mindset, everything else seems small.